Apple Provides First Beta of tvOS 11 to Developers - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple Provides First Beta of tvOS 11 to Developers

by

Following today's WWDC keynote event that saw the debut of iOS 11, macOS High Sierra, and watchOS 4, Apple has seeded the first beta of the new tvOS 11 operating system for the Apple TV to developers for testing purposes.

Registered developers can download tvOS 11 by connecting the Apple TV to a computer with a USB-C cable and installing the beta software using iTunes.

f1496682992
tvOS 11 saw little screen time at today's event, and in fact, it wasn't even officially announced on stage. The new operating system was largely glossed over, with the exception of an announcement for an upcoming Amazon Prime Video app.

According to Apple's release notes, tvOS 11 brings automatic light/dark appearance switching, Home screen syncing options, new background modes and notification support, Focus API improvements, custom sound support, network-based pairing and development support, and improvements to Mobile Device Management.

tvOS 11 is only available for registered developers at the current point in time, but Apple's beta site now includes tvOS 11, suggesting a public tvOS beta is coming.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)
Related Forum: Apple TV and Home Theater

Popular Stories

General visionOS watchOS and tvOS Betas Feature Redux

Apple Releases Third watchOS 26.5, tvOS 26.5 and visionOS 26.5 Betas

Monday April 20, 2026 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with the third betas of upcoming watchOS 26.5, tvOS 26.5, and visionOS 26.5 betas for testing purposes. The software comes a week after Apple released the second betas for each platform. The software updates are available through the Settings app on each device, and because these are developer betas, a free developer account is required. There's no word on ...
Read Full Article • 3 comments
apple tv plus the savant

Apple TV Series 'The Savant' Set for July Premiere After Delay

Monday April 20, 2026 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple is finally planning to release The Savant, an Apple TV series that it delayed following the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The Savant is set to air in July 2026, according to Variety. The Apple TV show was supposed to come out on Friday, September 26, 2025, but Apple decided not to release it due to the topic and the political climate. When the series was pulled, star Jessica...
Read Full Article • 20 comments
Apple TV Silo

Apple TV's Hit Show 'Silo' is Returning Soon: Release Date and Trailer

Tuesday April 21, 2026 1:29 pm PDT by
Apple today announced that its hit sci-fi series "Silo" is returning for a third season starting Friday, July 3, and it shared a teaser trailer. "Silo" follows the lives of 10,000 people living in an underground bunker to escape the seemingly toxic wasteland outside. The people are unaware of why the silo was built, and those who seek the truth face deadly consequences. Rebecca Ferguson...
Read Full Article • 53 comments

Top Rated Comments

C
CalZephyr
117 months ago
I, for one, am excited there will finally be an app for Amazon Prime Video.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I
i hate phones
117 months ago
Was that said in the keynote? I was too busy fuming about the first of the sixth major updates being the launch of a US only video app
Yep :) that's how they ended the tvOS part of the presentation.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
J
JimmyJimmyYam
117 months ago
Ooh, potions!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
HobeSoundDarryl
117 months ago
Anyone have any more detail on what this might mean...

Home screen syncing potions
Potions? Assuming typo, maybe "positions"? But does that make sense?

Wait a minute, "options": Home screen syncing options? But then what might that be? Synching with what? First thought: other :apple:TVs within the house... but would a family want multiple :apple:TVs to have a synced home screen? Speculation or hard information?

Then again if we can call an OS "High" maybe another can have "potions":

* "Sure dude, it's 4K." and
* "Here... try this. Now it's 8K." and
* "No try this. Now it's a Star Trek Holodeck";)

And what do we think this might mean...

custom sound support
...such as what? First thought: new audio codecs (Dolby Atmos, DTS). But then I get real and started wondering if this is interface beeps and similar, meaning we can pick different click sounds. Something else? Speculation or hard information?

Jokes aside: glad they're still trying with tvOS. :apple:TV has such potential. I wish they would give it some major focus (akin to the focus much smaller competitors with much less cash seem to apply to their versions of these little boxes).
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments